Chapter Eight

Lucky visits San Quentin using her long-standing alias, Sarah Armstrong, and learns another visitor has just seen John: Marisol Reyes, a former accomplice now working for a nonprofit aiding third-strikers. Reyes briefly warns Lucky that John is forgetting things and urges contact.

Inside the visiting room, Lucky notes John seems smaller and distracted. Pressed for time, she confesses that she and Cary have been working together for years, that Cary abandoned her mid-plan for Dominica, and that she is now being pursued. She then reveals she holds a winning lottery ticket worth $390 million but cannot safely claim it.

John calculates the legal risk and, despite concern, begins offering fixes. He discourages involving Reyes and proposes enlisting Darla and Steph to cash the ticket by appealing to their emotions, or turning to Priscilla for her connections, suggesting a cut. Lucky rejects Priscilla as untrustworthy and resists the Darla/Steph plan.

Grasping for a path, Lucky asks about her mother, Gloria. John slips, revealing Gloria likely runs a Devereaux family fishing camp near Cooperstown and that he and Gloria are still technically married. He warns that money alone won’t make Gloria receptive, but Lucky considers seeking her anyway.

As guards call time, tensions flare. John insists he’d never abandon someone as Cary did; Lucky counters that Cary is exactly like John. The visit ends abruptly, leaving Lucky with fractured options, a fragile lead on her mother, and growing worry about John’s memory.